But What Can I Do? Is the Alternative Just to Give Up? A Young Activist Says, “No”.
When sixteen year old Lack travelled to Versova Beach, on the Mumbai coast, a few years ago, she stood on a huge heap of rubbish. At the time she was writing a book, The Children of the Anthropocene, in which she tells the stories of young people who are involved in projects that address the climate crisis. One of those was Afroz Shah, a lawyer who had determined to remove mountains of washed-up plastic from the beach. He had begun the project with no funding and no official support. “The problem facing us felt so big and insurmountable,” she wrote later, thinking of the beach but also of climate activism more broadly, “that I wondered whether I should stop with all the campaigning, the speeches, and just enjoy my teenage years while they lasted.”
Instead, for her book Lack engaged with a diverse group of young people from across the world. She tells of the Indonesian sisters who went on hunger strike to convince the governor of Bali to ban plastic bags from the island; of a boy in Los Angeles who organised local communities to fight air pollution; and she converses with Shah, who gradually convinced locals to work together to make the beach much cleaner.
Through telling these individuals’ stories of climate activism, Lack is convinced that these will persuade people into taking action – more effectively that issuing abstract, general warnings we can’t get out heads around, such as We have only twelve years left to stop catastrophe, or A million species are in danger of extinction. Instead, through telling the stories of teenagers facing and overcoming dangers to their local environments, she aims to get people to engage emotionally with what’s happening around them and believe that they too can make a positive difference – and influence their older siblings, relatives and neighbours. Lack describes this process as a kind of “trickle-up activism”, where young people introduce their elders to new information and slowly, if arduously, convince them to alter lifelong habits.
An important additional message to readers is: change your behaviours, but live your life. “We’re protecting the planet,” she said in a recent interview with a Guardian journalist. “But the planet will be fine. What we’re really protecting is humanity. And, you know, you’ve got to enjoy it while you’re here.” Oh – and also imagining a better future we can move towards: car-free streets, cleaner city air, wild spaces in urban areas, and an economy powered by renewables. To Lack, the fun and excitement of activism lies in developing diverse solutions for a more positive future, invented by people in diverse careers and professions. “If you’re a lawyer, focus on the eco side. If you’re a chef, curb the impact of the food you’re using.” Engaging our imaginations is the first step.
For the full interview, see:
Contributed by Wendy Morgan